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Chad Mendes
Chad Mendes is a featherweight fighter who formerly competed for the WEC and now competes in the UFC's featherweight division. From WEC to UFC: First Title Run Mendes most recently defeated veteran Javier Vazquez via unanimous decision in his final fight with the WEC. After the WEC/UFC merger, Mendes next debuted in the UFC against fellow newcomer Michihiro Omigawa. Mendes defeated Omigawa via unanimous decision in the biggest win of his career thus far. He was next set to fight Jose Aldo for the champion's UFC featherweight title. Instead it was announced that Mendes would compete against the veteran jiu jitsu specialist Rani Yahya. He defeated Yahya via unanimous decision. Mendes was next heavily rumored to get the next shot at the winner of the featherweight title fight between champion Jose Aldo and veteran Kenny Florian. Aldo defeated Florian and Mendes next signed on to compete against Aldo for the UFC featherweight championship in Aldo's native Brazil. Aldo knocked Mendes out with a beautifully timed knee with one second left in the first round. The fight was Mendes' first loss. Second Title Run Mendes next faced TUF veteran and featherweight newcomer Cody McKenzie, dropping McKenzie quickly with a body shot for a first round TKO win. Mendes was next set to face prospect Hacran Dias in December 2012. Dias was injured and replaced on less than a week's notice by UFC newcomer Yaotzin Meza. Mendes knocked Meza out in the first round. He next signed to face fellow WEC vet Manny Gamburyan. Unfortunately Gamburyan was injured and despite calling out contender Ricardo Lamas, a replacement could not be found and the fight was scrapped from the February 2013 card altogether. Mendes quickly resigned to fight veteran Clay Guida in April 2013. Guida was injured and replaced by Darren Elkins. Mendes knocked Elkins out very quickly. Mendes next re-signed to face Guida. He defeated Guida via third round knockout becoming the first man to knock out Guida and also the first man to record four UFC knockouts in a row. Mendes again reiterated his desire to get another shot at Jose Aldo. Instead Mendes signed to fight Nik Lentz. Mendes put on a compartiively lackluster performance but earned a dominant unanimous decision. It only came out afterwards that Mendes was dealing with a flu infection during the bout. With the victory, nonetheless, he earned a shot at the winner of the UFC featherweight title fight between Jose Aldo and Ricardo Lamas. Fighting for the Title In May 2014 Mendes was indeed confirmed to fight Aldo in a rematch. The two went to war for twenty-five minutes with Aldo taking an extremely controversial unanimous decision. Mendes lost no steam in the title hunt from the close loss, however, as he signed several months later in January 2015 to fight fellow former contender Ricardo Lamas. Mendes bulldozed Lamas knocking him out in the first round. He set himself up as really the only possible next contender to fight the winner of the fight between Aldo and Conor McGregor. When Aldo suffered a rib injury just a few weeks prior to the McGregor fight, Mendes was more than happy to step in to fight McGregor for the UFC interim featherweight title. Mendes' lack of a full training camp showed, however, and he was winded by the middle of the first round. Mendes tried to persevere and even had some success taking McGregor to the mat and elbowing him. He made it to the end of the second round before being knocked out by McGregor with three seconds left in the round. Mendes next signed to fight title contender and former UFC lightweight champ Frank Edgar. Fights *Chad Mendes vs. Art Arciniega *Chad Mendes vs. Steve Siler *Chad Mendes vs. Erik Koch - Both men came into the fight undefeated and the fight was the first -- and thus far only -- loss of prospect Erik Koch. The fight was the WEC debut of Mendes. *Chad Mendes vs. Anthony Morrison *Chad Mendes vs. Cub Swanson *Chad Mendes vs. Javier Vazquez *Chad Mendes vs. Michihiro Omigawa - The fight was the UFC debut of undefeated Mendes and the return to the Octagon of Michihiro Omigawa. *Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes - The fight was for the UFC featherweight title with Jose Aldo defending. Mendes came into the fight undefeated and it was his first loss. *Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie *Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes 2 - The fight was for the UFC featherweight title with Aldo defending. *Chad Mendes vs. Ricardo Lamas *Conor McGregor vs. Chad Mendes - The fight was for the interim UFC featherweight title. *Frank Edgar vs. Chad Mendes Category:Featherweight fighters